Four rockets struck the heavily fortified Green Zone in Baghdad on Tuesday, with three others landing around the city, the Iraqi military said.
News of the attack came hours after acting Defense Secretary Christopher Miller confirmed President Trump’s plan to pull more troops out of Afghanistan and Iraq before his term is up, cutting the number of forces in each Middle Eastern country to 2,500 by Jan. 15.
Videos from the attack show red streaks in the sky amid the sound of explosions and warning sirens. The attacks were apparently met with a U.S. missile defense system, the Washington Post reported.
#BREAKING: At least 4 rockets fired at US Embassy in Baghdad, comes after US acting defense secretary announces partial withdrawal of US forces from Iraq
pic.twitter.com/XjCES6qfB6— Amichai Stein (@AmichaiStein1) November 17, 2020
The bombing of the Green Zone has resulted in the death of a child and wounded at least five people, according to the Associated Press. The attack marked the end of an informal truce from Iran-backed militias in October.
A communication channel linked to militias said Tuesday that six rockets were fired by the Ashab al Kahaf group, according to the Washington Post. The group also posted a photo of Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani, the former leader of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps’s Quds Force.
In January, a U.S. drone strike killed Soleimani and Iraq’s Popular Mobilization Force chief Mahdi al Muhandis. After the strike, Iraqi Speaker of Parliament Mohammad al Halbousi vowed to “put an end to U.S. presence” in Iraq. Shortly after, the Legislature passed a nonbinding resolution demanding the drawdown of all U.S. troops in the country.
Iranian-backed militias in Iraq agreed to an informal truce with the United States in mid-October to halt attacks that targeted the U.S. presence in Iraq, including the embassy, if coalition forces led by the U.S. withdrew from the country. The U.S. was already in the process of drawing down troops in the area as Iraqi forces increasingly conduct anti-Islamic State operations without U.S. assistance.
Coalition troops have already withdrawn from several Iraqi bases, the Associated Press reported.
In September, the Trump administration had also threatened to withdraw all personnel from the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad if Iraq failed to crack down on attacks against Americans in the region. Critics said that the move “would only deepen Iranian influence in Iraq,” according to the Washington Post.
